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POLL: 76% of Canadians want to raise Canada's de minimis level to $200

OTTAWA, Oct. 24, 2016 /CNW/ -- The petition to "dump the duties" will be presented in the House of Commons later today. The petition received 15,257 signatures, the seventh most signatures of all official House of Commons e-Petitions to date. Signatures came from Canadians in every province and territory. The petition calls on the government of Canada to increase Canada's de minimis level from its current level of just $20. Currently, Canadians who spend more than $20 shopping online outside of Canada are paying the government up to 30% duty and tax penalties when their purchases arrive in Canada.

From September 24-27, Nanos Research conducted a survey on behalf of the Canadian American Business Council regarding Canadians' views of the current de minimis level in Canada. That research found that more than three in four (76%) Canadians support or somewhat support the Government raising the duty free limit to $200 CAD.

Asked to state the reason for their opinion regarding raising the limit, 20 per cent of Canadians say raising the limit would benefit consumers/make prices more competitive/give them access to more products outside of Canada, followed by the current limit is too low/outdated and likely implies processing costs that are too high (17%).

Raising Canada's de minimis threshold to $200 CAD would bring direct economic benefits to Canadian consumers and businesses and bring Canada in line with the online economies of other industrialized countries.